BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

11/04/2006

EU issues travel sanctions for Belarus

MINSK, Belarus, April 10 (UPI) -- The European Union voted Monday to ban Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and 30 members of his government from entering any of its 25 countries. The vote by the Council of Foreign Ministers was a milestone for the EU, which has never before imposed sanctions on a neighboring country. Lukashenko dismissed the travel ban, Voice of America reported. The Foreign Ministry called it "deliberate, unsubstantiated and useless." Six Belarus officials, mostly involved in security, were already subject to travel bans. The official count in last month's election in Belarus gave Lukashenko more than 80 percent of the vote. But EU and U.S. officials say that the election was not fair. Lukashenko was sworn in to a third term on Saturday. Alexander Milinkevich, who came in second by the official count with only 6 percent of the vote, has been visiting European nations seeking sanctions.

Source:

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